Chicama Run Family Farm

To answer your question, no we really don't have one.  We are open the entire year and the animals can't fend for themselves.

Believe it or not, we sit here in February waiting for chicks to be delivered starting in March!!  Those will then be butchered in May.  The cycle begins.

These are months where we try to take a small break/breather - but it doesn't happen.  It's alright and it's fun actually - if we didn't have something to do all the time, then we would honestly get bored.

In January we booked all the butchering date for the entire year!  Yes, we have to plan on anticipating what you, as our customers, want and when you want it.  Then we have to order all 900+ chickens and turkeys for the year (scary number isn't it?) - and try and guesstimate how many we will lose so we make sure we cover for those.  We can only butcher by law 999 at our farm and that's what we do.

Are we doing markets?  We will be at least at Hillsboro this year as we have already been accepted for that market.  We are waiting to hear from Leesburg.  Then we have Chicama Chow this year (which is a lot of fun and Joe is having a blast trying to "create" his own sandwich creations) -- so how often are we doing that?  Who will be where to help out?

Spring Farm Tour?  Yep - that comes up the 3rd weekend in May!  We are NOW discussing food options for that day (can you believe it?  I'm having a hard enough time coming up with dinner for tonight!!)  Also, who will be operating what section that weekend?

Vacations?  Yes, we get a couple.  Believe it or not, we schedule them so we don't miss markets.  As much as we would like to be disconnected, we are still available by cell/email during that time as well...

Babies?  YES - when are they happening?  Are we in town?  Who is bottle-feeding?  Do we need supplements in case of emergency?  Who are we keeping?  Who are we selling?  How much?  How soon?  Where are we putting them?  We already have 80 pigs on the property - are we downsizing?  Who to get rid of?  Who do we keep and why?  

We can't check all the fencing until the spring - or at least a little warmer weather when the ground isn't so frozen.

So you can see - it gets a little chaotic around here, even in the winter.  We get called all the time asking us when we are open or when our season starts.... I laugh and really wonder when are we NOT in-season??

This will be quick but it was a thought that came up based on Alexis (our 13 year old) washing eggs.  Over the past couple of weeks, we've had a lot of people "searching" the eggs for the elusive blue & green eggs.  You know who you are - and we appreciate it - we honestly think it's fun as well.

Another newer group of egg followers are the ones who now get upset when the eggs all are the same size in the carton!

Alexis is the one you really want washing the eggs a lot of the time for those who do not want "equal eggs."

Why?  Because honestly I think she just washes them and checks to make sure nothing is broken and that's about it.  The rest of us pay attention to how they LOOK in the carton - and how have we all been trained?  That's right - we have always SEEN nice even eggs that are all uniform in size and shape.

Alexis - well she just washes eggs, sings to whatever music is playing on her iPod - and even sometimes is listening to her schoolwork... and she is my complete individual kid.  She's unique and completely well.... Alexis.

So if you find a blue egg, or if you are happy with the small-XXL eggs in your mixed up carton - Thank Alexis - because I guarantee you - it was most likely her that washed them ;)

As many people know, we foster children.  It's something that I honestly enjoy doing and recommend to a lot of people.  One of the "privileges" is that the kids get free lunches and breakfasts at the school.

This sounds like a wonderful way to help stretch our money doesn't it?  Don't think that foster parents "make big bucks" off the kids they provide a safe home for - we don't - it's not why we do it.  So having any type of subsidy can be very helpful when it comes to helping off-set the costs.

Now I want you to take a look at the breakfast provided..  I didn't think much of this until yesterday afternoon when our 6 year old came home and said she had a snack in her backpack - could she eat it?  I said OK without really checking on it - honestly I was in the middle of something and I didn't THINK it would be healthy anyways since I thought it must have been a kid's birthday.   What I didn't expect was that it was the cereal she picked up in the morning at breakfast when her class went.  See, she is in the ELL class to help her grasp a little more of the English language - which is great and I GET that a lot of the kids NEED the breakfast program and many are in the ELL class which is fine so they go to breakfast on their way to the class.  I still provide her with food in the morning - yesterday was a breakfast burrito which she ate because she thought it was funny.

Onto what she brought home.  Trix cereal - WITH LESS SUGAR!  Thank goodness it has less sugar than the previous one - whew I feel better!!

So today, I made breakfast again (this is part of my New Years concept - making breakfast for the kids).  Today was a "fruit taco"  It didn't go over so well... not because she didn't like it - but because she wanted to save room for the color cereal.

She is not allowed to have that type of cereal unless it's in a controlled environment *aka: home*  The reason is that certain food dyes cause her to have serious behavior issues to the point of running through the house until she crashes.  Yes, we have watched it happen with a Quaker Oats Strawberry Cereal Bar - and it was exhausting to watch!

But even so - with the behavior issues aside - if given a choice between a banana and a donut - kids will take the donut - HELL - I'll take the donut!  So why are we offering them "candy cereal" for breakfast?  Aren't eggs cheaper?  I don't expect the school to pay for organic free range eggs - but for less than $1/dozen - can't you feed these kids a better breakfast?  Remember, most of the kids that are eating breakfast at the school can't afford food at home - so why are we giving them more crap?  These types of foods aren't helping them stay healthy which them causes them to end up in the ER for something or other.

Some are only getting 2 meals per day - both provided by the public education service.  THANK YOU for that..... but isn't there a way to get something GOOD into them vs junk food?

My own house isn't totally "clean food" - I have Lucky Charms in the cupboard (no, I didn't buy it - but Daddy did as a treat *sigh*) and I GET having it on occasion.  It's the every day thing that worries me and it seems to be the main option in the schools.

I've heard a lot about school lunches and how terrible they are.... even my teens say they are bad and opt for the salad bar more often than not.  But I think people need to start looking into the breakfast - especially for the little ones.

Just a thought....

A lot of people have met my husband Joe over the last year.  He's been amazing with stepping up to do my job plus his own here at the farm (and yes, he has a real full-time stressful job as well).  Most people had never met him or even seen him before - I told you he existed!!

Here's the thing - I do not believe everything that comes at me - especially now and days.  I'm skeptical about everything - herbs, essential oils, vitamins.... you name it, I can find a way to be a skeptic.  Of course, if I believe in it, I am one to jump in with both feet first (and I may not look around before I do it).

This is something that comes up a lot these days, doesn't it?  Every time I go out, I see "Buy Local" stickers on the back of cars and all this wonderful stuff that should make me (as a farmer) warm and fuzzy.

However, are you really supporting local?

A couple of years ago (I think), I wrote about what local actually means to people.  This is up for debate, and I really don't want to start one here because it does mean a lot of different things to different people.

I am not a person who only buys LOCAL.  In other words - I buy from PA, MD, & WV.  Local in my personal opinion is from people in LOUDOUN COUNTY.

WHY?  Because, you buy from people in LOUDOUN (my county), the money goes back into THIS COUNTY!

Personally - I pay taxes here, I send my kids to school here (ok well 2 stay home but you get the idea), I shop here, and this is where I plan to stay for awhile.  I want to see good things come to one of the richest counties in the nation.  Period.

When I buy from another farmer from another state or even another county in this state, I am helping support THEIR county - not mine.  See where I'm at with this?

Yes, I know you can save some money with out of state/out of area co-ops that deliver and all that jazz.  But where is that money going to?  Someone recently mentioned that our egg prices are high ($4.50/dozen - and I haven't raised the price in over a year - even though feed prices have gone up..... but watch for one at the farmer's market - just because of the extra fees for selling there)...  most people in the area are selling their eggs for $5+ - I don't think we are expensive.  Yes, I saw them when we visited PA for $2.50/dozen... but I couldn't see the chickens.  If they were delivered to me - I wouldn't know anything about the farm really except what someone else told me.  That would make me nervous.

I won't discourage anyone from buying from a local farmer's market at all!!  It's super convenient to have all the vendors in one place and as a busy person, I get it.  But maybe think about some of the other things you shop for and see if they CAN be gotten in Loudoun County (or whatever county you live in).  Or maybe select a Loudoun County farmer over someone else, even if the price is a little higher.  Trust me, we KNOW all about the taxes in the county - we pay them just like you do and so a lot of time our prices MIGHT be a little higher to compensate for those evil taxes that keep popping up demanding to be paid ;)

Off my really short soap box now ;)

I'm sorry I'm a slow blogger - maybe I'll try and make up for it - maybe not.